Jeane Kirkpatrick was the first woman to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, holding the post from 1981 to 1985 under President Ronald Reagan. A political scientist, she argued that authoritarian governments could be more stable allies than revolutionary movements, a position that shaped U.S. policy debates in the early 1980s. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985 and the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal in 1992.